Sara Cutler, Harp

Sara Cutler, described as “dazzling” by the Washington Post, has appeared as concerto soloist at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. She has not only performed works from the standard concerto repertoire but has premiered and performed many 20th and 21st Century concertos, such as the Concerto: Cold, Silent Snow written for her and flutist Linda Chesis by American composer Elizabeth Larsen and the concerto Wild Grass by Michael Torke, composed for her and commissioned by the American Harp Society. Ms. Cutler was the soloist for the European premiere of Gian-Carlo Menotti’s Cantilena and Scherzo for harp and string orchestra and, while Malcolm Williamson was “Master of the Queen’s Music” in England, Ms. Cutler performed the British premiere of his harp concerto, Au Tombeau du Martyr Juif with the Scottish Baroque Ensemble.

For many years, Ms. Cutler collaborated with flutist Linda Chesis in the Chesis/Cutler Duo. Their debut recitals in London at the Southbank Centre, in Tokyo at the Asahiseimei Hall and in Paris at the Comedie de Champs-Elysees were all sold-out. As a soloist and with Ms. Chesis, Ms. Cutler has performed around the world, appearing in recital in Tokyo, Tel Aviv, London, Paris, and New York. A participant in the Bard Festival in upstate New York since its inception, she appears there every summer as a soloist and chamber musician. She has also appeared at many other summer festivals from Tanglewood and Ravenna to the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival.

She has recorded extensively; the Concertino for Harp and Chamber Orchstra by Ernö Dohnányi, with the American Symphony Orchestra (Bridge Records); with Ms. Chesis, an all Debussy CD (Masters/Carlton Classics, London); with the Smithsonian Chamber players (BMG Classics), and a Christmas CD with soprano Jessye Norman (Philips). Her latest CD, released in 2015 and including 2 major works for harp and choir, was recorded with the Boy’s Choir of St. Thomas Church, NY (Resonus Classics) and was chosen Album of the Week by the Times of London. She can also be heard on many recordings as the harpist with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and the American Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded many film scores such as Warner Brothers’ Map of the World, by acclaimed jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and pop CD’s such as Paul Simon’s So Beautiful or So What.

In New York, where she has worked with such conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Georg Solti, James Levine, Valery Gergiev and Robert Shaw, Ms. Cutler is Principal Harp with the American Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the New York City Ballet Orchestra. She is also the former Solo Harpist with the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Ms. Cutler is an officer of the Executive Board of Local 802 of the AFM, a Trustee of the Musician’s Health Fund at Local 802, an Editorial Board member of the American Harp Journal and a Yale College graduate with a degree in Classics. She is on the faculty of the Bard College Conservatory of Music and her recent manual for harp study, A Harpist’s Legacy, was published by Lyon and Healy Books.

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